“If you don’t understand where the problems are, you can’t begin to address them!”

Veronica Jarocki is a Foundational Postdoctoral Fellow at SAAFE CRC. She’s focused on microbial genomics, with a background in proteomics and subunit vaccine development. Having worked as a registered nurse for more than 11 years while subsequently pursuing biological and biomedical sciences, Veronica brings a unique lens to the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Through her research, Veronica is keenly focused on identifying AMR hotspots – equipping us with robust information about where resistance occurs and the rate at which it develops. She understands that a pivotal aspect of tackling AMR head on is first understanding where the issue is most concentrated.

Veronica was first exposed to the threats posed by AMR during her PhD. While identifying potential vaccine candidates against a pig pathogen, she became acutely cognisant of AMR’s growing health and economic burden in the animal, environmental and human sectors. Eager to get a better grasp on what is an incredibly complex issue, she subsequently moved into genomics.

Today, as a Foundational Postdoctoral Fellow at SAAFE CRC, Veronica works closely with our industry partners to develop PhD programs focused on broadening our understanding of AMR transmission dynamics.

She also spends her days analysing vast collections of whole genome sequences, which have been derived from environmental and animal-associated bacteria – mainly E. coli. More specifically, she’s hard at work investigating the relationships between bacteria from different sources and the mechanisms that drive antimicrobial resistance and pathogen evolution.